Groups Urge Thailand Not to Send Prisoners on Fishing Boats

Human rights groups and labor organizations across Asia urged Thailand's military government on Thursday to scrap a proposal to send prisoners onto Thai fishing boats to fill labor shortages.

In a letter addressed directly to coup leader-turned-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the 45 organizations including Human Rights Watch said the pilot project would pose "a serious threat to the human rights of prisoners" and sending them to sea is a violation of international rights standards.